A group of Silicon Valley technology leaders, impatient with attempts to rewrite immigration laws, is funding efforts to help undocumented youths attend college, find jobs and stay in the country despite their illegal status.

The group includes Jeff Hawkins, inventor of the Palm Pilot; and the family foundations of Andrew Grove, co-founder of Intel Corp.; and Mark Leslie, founder of the former Veritas Software Corp. Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, has for years supported undocumented students through her organizations that help low-income high-school students.

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"We think Congress's inaction...is devastating for these students and tragic for the country," said Ms. Powell Jobs, who was one of the first in the tech community to champion the Dream Act by lobbying her congresswoman and writing an op-ed piece supporting the legislation.

The focus of the Silicon Valley philanthropists is Educators for Fair Consideration, or E4FC, a nonprofit that gives scholarships, career advice and legal services to students brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Comments

The U.S. has "put a lot of money into [undocumented students] already," said Eva Grove, wife of Intel's co-founder, whose family foundation gave $1 million to immigration-related groups last year. "It makes no sense to dead-end them after they are educated."

Or maybe it makes no sense to put a lot of money into educating people who are not even authorized to be in your country and are not eligible to be hired within it. A guaranteed expensive education policy regardless of legal residency status is a huge magnet for illegal presence of the whole family and can even lead to parents abandoning their children here such as the case of Jose Antonio Vargas. I wonder if the majority in Plyler considered the incentives they created. They created a fundamental right to a very expensive benefit in the U.S. potentially for every foreign national child in the world knowing full well that we do not allow every foreign national to reside in the U.S. So they definitely made a policy mess for us, but that doesn't prevent us from enforcing the law BEFORE the illegally present students (and their families) have taken us up on our largess for 13 years.

USC
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03-06-2012 05:28 PM

Great story. Good job, Greg.

Legal and no longer waiting
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03-07-2012 06:51 AM

Jack, US education is expensive alright - and the illegal parents are paying for it with their property taxes. It's crappy quality, though. So, you are wrong that it is any magnet whatsoever. It's just a sour deal.

Another Voice
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03-07-2012 08:33 AM

"Or maybe it makes no sense to put a lot of money into educating people who are not even authorized to be in your country and are not eligible to be hired within it."

When people are brought here to no fault of their own as a child they deserve a fair shot at life and they country they grew up in.... You invest in people that will be productive and producing members of society. I know these are hard concepts for you Jack but it is the humane and smart thing to do.....

George Chell
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03-07-2012 09:07 AM

Jack:

It is private money...you have no say in how private individuals spend their money. If the question is whether instate tuition should be provided, you have a point. However, if someone wants to fund someone else's education, it is their right and you or the government should have no say in it.

Waiting for GC
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03-07-2012 04:26 PM

Well said George.

Government should stay out unless its the things we hate.

Jack
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03-07-2012 06:30 PM

"you are wrong that it is any magnet whatsoever"

Regardless of the perceived quality, there is the availability of the education vs. unavailability. If potential illegal aliens knew that they could not enroll their illegal alien children in public school (or even simply had to pay tuition), it would be a disincentive to reside unlawfully with their children along with them. Some potential illegal aliens would not want to be without their children and thus choose not reside illegally in the U.S. In, e.g., Mexico, free public school education is available but only with proof of Mexican citizenship.

George Chell
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03-08-2012 04:49 AM

"Government should stay out unless its the things we hate."

I have a deal for you: repeal the fourteenth amendment in exchange for repealing the second amendment. That is a fair deal!

"Regardless of the perceived quality, there is the availability of the education vs. unavailability. If potential illegal aliens knew that they could not enroll their illegal alien children in public school (or even simply had to pay tuition), it would be a disincentive to reside unlawfully with their children along with them. "

Let me take a guess at your brilliant plan Jack according to you they would "self-deport".....

Legal and no longer waiting
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03-08-2012 07:10 AM

"Regardless of the perceived quality, there is the availability of the education vs. unavailability. If potential illegal aliens knew that they could not enroll their illegal alien children in public school (or even simply had to pay tuition), it would be a disincentive to reside unlawfully with their children along with them."

Also, up to 10% of American children would not be able to prove that they are citizens, and thus the US would push itself into the 18th century, with kids growing up on the streets, and gangs ruling neighborhoods. But who cares, if the country needs to be completely effed up to not let the brown people in, then let's do it! Brilliant plan, Jack!

By the way, what is your justification again, Jack for not letting people into the schools their parents are paying for with the property taxes? Are you going to refund their taxes?

Nurse Waiting
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03-08-2012 07:42 AM

"If potential illegal aliens knew that they could not enroll their illegal alien children in public school (or even simply had to pay tuition)"

In case you didn't know, public schools are not free or a charity basket. They are run by property taxes and illegal aliens do pay property taxes by paying rent or buying houses. So do not claim they are on a free ride in public schools. They are paying their fair share just as much as any other American.

Illegal aliens are here because employers want them to be here. They are doing jobs that American won't do at reasonable market wage. If Americans want to get paid $50/hr to work in farms then they will be out of business really quick while competing with rest of the world. Nobody gets paid high bucks for doing manual labor. Since we want agriculture thriving in this country there is need for farm labor and illegal aliens satisfy that need. Since these people are here, there is a need to take care of their families and give them all the rights of citizenship. It is practically a crime to use them for labor and then deprive them of all the rights. USA, which stands with a beacon for human rights all around the world (and polices the whole world) has to stop with this second class treatments of people in its own country.

$600,000 provides guaranteed expensive education for kids of all illegal aliens? What world are you living in? You need to get out of that cave. World has moved beyond 1800s and education is very expensive nowadays.

Jugg
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03-08-2012 08:59 AM

The next step is for these employers to hire Dreamers for jobs located outside the USA. It will conveniently sidestep the local immigration deadlock and allow those taking advantage to eventually return even under the status quo.

Another Voice
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03-08-2012 01:38 PM

"pay property taxes by paying rent or buying houses"

They also pay sales taxes in all consumption, property taxes on their vehicles(yes... they drive Jack), payroll taxes(including SS and Medicare) which they will never get back and some of them pay Income taxes using IRS TIN numbers. So the taxes are there, the argument remains if the balance of things is in favor or against them, but they are 100% tax payers that is not up for discussion.

Jack
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03-08-2012 06:47 PM

"payroll taxes(including SS and Medicare) which they will never get back and some of them pay Income taxes using IRS TIN numbers."

With a legalization, they WILL get back what they paid (and a lot more subsidized by higher earners). As for income taxes, most do not have an income high enough to owe tax. However, if they have children (citizen or not), those with ITIN's can apply for Additional Child Tax Credits (ACTC) and did so to the tune of $4.2 billion in 2010. But that's not an incentive, right?

"Since these people are here, there is a need to take care of their families and give them all the rights of citizenship"

It sounds like you all are saying that by virtue of paying any form of tax in any amount, e.g., sales tax, that should entitle illegal aliens to every benefit citizens are eligible for. So an alien who just entered illegally and rents an apartment, buys a pack of gum, or files a tax return which says they owe no tax, that stakes their claim to Obamacare, Section 8 housing, SSI, Medicaid, etc. All the rights of citizenship? Voting too? If every foreign national must be treated identically to citizens, what would be the point of having citizenship? It would be meaningless.

George Chell
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03-09-2012 04:58 AM

"With a legalization, they WILL get back what they paid (and a lot more subsidized by higher earners)."

So the most cost effective way to deal with this is keep them illegal, right? Deportation and other measures are expensive and at a time when the federal government is thinking of cutting social security, I am not willing to pay more for deportation measures, let alone verify the citizenship of babies if the 14th amendment is repealed. They are not cutting my SS to pay for your pet project. You can convince Grover Norquist to raise your taxes to pay for it.

"However, if they have children (citizen or not), those with ITIN's can apply for Additional Child Tax Credits (ACTC) and did so to the tune of $4.2 billion in 2010. But that's not an incentive, right?"

Most of them cannot even read or write English and they are living in the shadows, let alone know about all the tax benefits and loopholes. So this argument is garbage!

Another Voice
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03-09-2012 07:10 AM

"It sounds like you all are saying that by virtue of paying any form of tax in any amount, e.g., sales tax, that should entitle illegal aliens to every benefit citizens are eligible for"

Jack I do not know why you insult the intelligence of all posters here with these arguments.....not helping your cause!!!

You want to have it both ways, if they do not pay taxes then they are free loaders and parasites, if they pay then they should not get equal treatment because of their status either way they should lose... Last attempts at CIR actually if I recall correctly anything paid into the system was forfeited some how...so much for taxation without representation, I think I have heard that somewhere in American History. You know Jack we can do a point by point counter but your arguments are so silly that I am just going to let them expose your silly logic on their own....